Nov 12 2007
Review: Show Business - The Road To Broadway
I recently got the opportunity to watch a just released DVD, “Show Business: The Show To Broadway“.
It’s a documentary looking at the process of creating and launching a new musical. It follows the story of four musicals: Wicked, Taboo, Caroline Or Change, and Avenue Q.
I thought the DVD does a great job capturing the atmosphere of the theatre district in NYC. It also presents the tension of Broadway - the great gamble taken by everyone involved in a new musical. It spends quite a bit of time covering the all-important critics, including interviews with quite a few of them.
It focuses on the creative process more from a business standpoint - will the musical succeed or not? Will it get a Tony? I would have liked to see more coverage of the artistic side - choreography, set creation, music, etc.
Overall, a great, educational DVD. I think any Broadway fan would enjoy seeing it.
Content: The DVD gets a PG rating for Language and some sexual references. It has a smattering of language in it, quite a bit of cross-dressing (clips from Taboo), and a few other sexual references.
Does it include anything about what to watch out for, because some shows, like Pirate Queen, just don’t make it.
By the way, what do you think of the strikes going on right now?
Sounds like an interesting and refreshing DVD…I live in NJ so I love going to NYC to watch the plays/musicals. They must be briliant and entrepreneurial to create a new musical that isn’t tried and true
The biggest success-fail factor it covers is the critics…if the reviews are ood, the show will succeed. If the reviews are bad, the show has to be really good to overcome them.
As far as the strikes, I do not like them. I’m a believer in the free market. I would rather there be no unions at all - if a company is not fair to its workers, then just get a job with a different company!
As far as this particular strike, I haven’t heard any actual facts or details about the strike. Everyone is pretty mum on it…
I agree with you about the unions.
I checked the DVD out and will watch it soon. Can’t wait.
Sometimes the shows deserve the critics’ bad reviews, sometimes bad shows don’t deserve the good reviews.